Sam Rayburn

== Early life ==
Rayburn was born in [[Roane County, Tennessee]], on January 6, 1882. He was the son of Martha Clementine (Waller) and William Marion Rayburn, a former Confederate cavalryman.<ref name="Brown2005">{{cite book|first=Fred|last=Brown|title=Marking Time: East Tennessee Historical Markers and the Stories Behind Them|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sem9B2acPfkC&pg=PA270|year=2005|publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press|isbn=978-1-57233-330-7|page=270}}</ref> The Rayburn family descended from [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Ulster Scots immigrants]] who emigrated to the [[Province of Pennsylvania]] in 1750.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hardeman|first1=D. B.|last2=Brown|first2=Donald C.|title=Rayburn: A Biography|year=1987|place=[[Austin, Texas|Austin, TX]]|publisher=Texas Monthly Press|page=12|isbn=978-0932012036}}</ref> In 1887, the Rayburn family moved to a 40-acre cotton farm near [[Windom, Texas]]. Rayburn grew up in poverty as he, his nine siblings, and his parents all participated in running the farm. Toiling in the fields made Rayburn determined to get a good education and help the poor and downtrodden.

[[File:East Texas Normal College Graduating Class of 1903.jpg|thumb|left|The [[History of East Texas Normal College|East Texas Normal College]] graduating class of 1903. Rayburn is in the back row second from the right.]]

Rayburn went to [[co-educational]] East Texas Normal College (now [[Texas A&M University–Commerce]]) in [[Commerce, Texas]], in 1900 with $25 (around $750 in 2020) that his father saved up to help take care of his first few months of college expenses. To help cover tuition and room and board, Rayburn rang the school bell to signal the end of classes and swept out Commerce's public school buildings, earning $3 a month. Rayburn obtained his teaching credentials before completing his bachelor of science degree, and earned additional income by teaching in the public school of Greenwood, a small community in [[Hopkins County, Texas|Hopkins County]]. He graduated in 1903 in a class of 13 (9 men and 4 women) and taught school for two years.<ref name="Dolph Briscoe Center for American History 2013">{{cite web | title=Biography - Sam Rayburn Museum | website=Dolph Briscoe Center for American History | date=December 19, 2013 | url=https://www.cah.utexas.edu/museums/rayburn_bio.php | access-date=August 9, 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="North Texas e-News 2003">{{cite news | title=Sam Rayburn's feat of graduation | website=North Texas e-News | date=August 16, 2003 | url=http://www.ntxe-news.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=3&num=8370 | access-date=August 9, 2019}}</ref>